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Almost exactly the words Alice had used in the final letter she'd left her, the letter Madison had found the day she came back to the store. She took a breath.
"Your friend would have been dealing with my sister, but let me give it a try. What's your name?"
"Samantha. Sam."
"All right, Sam. What's the situation?" She was a pragmatist, after all, and she saw no reason to beat around the bush, now that the shot had been fired. Sam seemed to agree, because her attitude toward Madison became less guarded.
"Two friends. Close friends. Guys. They both like me, and they like each other. They don't know what to do about it, and I thought . . ." She sighed, visibly summoning up the courage to look toward the back archway, at the stenciled pair of handcuffs beneath the flourished "Dungeon Room" label. "One of them, I think he's like that."
She colored a little, but at Madison's neutral reaction, she elaborated. "Sometimes, the way he looks at us, the way he acts, I think he'd like to tie us both up and have his way with us. And I think Chris really wants that, too, though he can't say it. There, I said it out loud. Are you horrified? I mean, how much more taboo can we get? Threesome, bondage, and two guys who probably want to touch each other as much as they want to touch me. Maybe I'm crazy."
Before last night, Madison might have gone wide-eyed and fumble-tongued. Even up until this moment, she'd been mostly focused on her own baggage regarding last night's session, but it had apparently accomplished what Alice had hoped it would. Madison felt an almost audible click as she connected to what Sam was feeling.
"Are they with you now?" Madison nodded toward the door. "In the car, I mean?"
"They're in the hardware store. I think they wanted to come in with me, but you know, lingerie store, they figured it would be all these women . . . actually I think they're being shy."
"What's the other one's name? Chris and . . ."
"Geoff."
"Okay. We should invite them in to shop with you. I'll give them some ideas that will help you figure out if you're right or not. What do you think? Are you feeling brave? Say yes, quick, before I decide I'm not as brave as I think I am today."
Sam's eyes widened, then she chuckled. Pleasure surged in Madison as the smile brightened, Sam making that small step of trust in herself and in the absent men. And in Madison. "Okay, yeah. Why not?"
"Good. I'll get them. You stay here."
Sam looked surprised, but stayed put as Madison pushed out the door and strode toward the hardware-store entrance. Would Logan be there? The very thought had her pulse tapping urgently against her throat.
Stepping into the hardware store, she saw he wasn't in view, which was kind of a relief. She couldn't afford to get distracted, even though her body was already warm all over.
"Chris, Geoff?" She raised her voice enough to carry through the store without shrieking like a fishwife.
A dark-haired man looked up from the shovels. She expected he wasn't really looking, but planted in a half doze, because he had stubble on his attractive jaw, and he held a generous-sized cup of coffee, despite the mid-morning hour. A late-shift job, maybe, such that mid-morning was early for him. His burly build suggested he did a lot of manual labor, perhaps construction work. Or maybe bar bouncer. She was going to assume this one was Chris.
The other man who looked toward her was in the rope aisle, fingering a length of twine with an entirely familiar absorption. She suppressed a smile. His clean-shaven and sharp-eyed appearance suggested young professional, possibly a lawyer. He didn't have Chris's bulk, but his body was lean and toned. Both men would catch female attention.
"Sam needs your opinion on some things next door," she told them. "Don't worry, she's my only client right now. No gaggles of women to scare you off."
Chris grinned. Geoff, though eying her speculatively, gave her a serious smile. They moved toward her, joining up at the top of their respective aisles. She noticed Geoff let Chris slide in front of him. The man Sam thought was a Dominant watched his friend, his gaze sliding over his nape, down the broad back. Since it reminded her of Logan's attention to her or Troy, just far less actualized and confident, she experienced another tiny thrill. Sam might be on the right track.
So was Madison. She knew it. It was all in noticing cues. That was the same, no matter what kind of sales she was doing, but this was more complicated. It was like discovering a story, and once the story was uncovered, she could help with the happy ending. Or beginning, as it were.
As she stepped aside to let them pass, she said, "I'll be over to help you in a moment."
The heat along her skin had increased exponentially, telling her for certain Logan was now behind the front counter. After they stepped out of his store, she let her gaze travel there, a flush rising in her cheeks. It was probably in full bloom by the time she met his gold-brown eyes.
He had his palms braced on the counter, his head cocked as he considered her from head to toe. He took his time about it, no matter the generous scattering of customers throughout the store. She could hear Troy's voice down an aisle, where he was helping someone.
"That's customer poaching," Logan said lazily.
"It's quid pro quo." She sniffed. "All you have to do to cause a stampede from every store on the street is announce Troy is doing a demonstration of . . . anything. How to hammer a nail."
If Troy was shirtless and wearing a tool belt, Logan would probably have to have EMTs on standby for swooning. She didn't add that, but there were a couple female patrons who obviously filled in the blanks, their eyes sparkling their appreciation of her. Which meant two new potential customers might come check out her store, just to see what the cheeky proprietor had to offer.
Logan straightened, sauntering to the end of the counter. The second he started to move she remembered that over-the-top, heated kiss against the wall of his storeroom, his hands on her, his whispered command to come in her ear.
It was hormones. That was all.
